Field monitoring system using a mobil terminal

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a field monitoring system using a mobile terminal, the system comprising: a mobile terminal, which transmits context information and receives 3D image information corresponding to said context information, the context information consisting of audio-video information generated by photographing images of the field and by recording sounds in the field, and location information obtained by applying sensed signals from an accelerometer and form a Gyroscope sensor to a GPS signal including latitude, longitude and time; and a control server which receives the contest information, matches location information of the context information with a pre-stored map or architectural drawing information to generate 3D image information for the current location of the mobile terminal, and transmits the generated information to the mobile terminal. Therefore, by using a wireless terminal that utilizes a commercial communication module, GPS and INS, the invention presents advantages in finding out the location of each personnel member who is sent to even a wide-area disaster, and photographing any unexpected accident or situation or blind spots.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates, in general, to a field monitoring systemusing a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a field monitoringsystem using a mobile terminal, which can generate video and audioinformation and location information and can transmit the video andaudio information and the location information to a control server viawireless communication in the field of occurrence of an incident or anaccident that may occur during the performance of work by the personnelmember of public institutions such as armies, the police, firedepartments and security companies, and which can be compatible with orcan replace a conventional fixed capturing device mounted on each of thevehicles of armies, the police, fire departments, and securitycompanies, thus continuously capturing video during a period from ridingin the vehicle to the termination of an incident or an accident when theincident or accident occurs.

BACKGROUND ART

In conventional technology, the monitoring of the field in which anincident or an accident occurs during the performance of work by thepersonnel member of public institutions such as armies, the police, firedepartments, and security companies has mainly depended on radiocommunication with personnel located in the field, or an aural ordocumentary report made by the personnel. Further, for evidence data,conventional technology has depended on a method of capturing the fieldusing a fixed capturing device mounted on a vehicle, or a method ofseparately sending video capturing members into the field and capturingthe field.

However, using only the above method causes problems in that in anemergency situation that may occur unexpectedly on members sent into afield, the detection of a current situation by a control center may bedelayed, and it is difficult for the opinions of members in the fieldand members in the control center to agree with each other and to detectthe locations of individual members when the area of an incident is wideand a plurality of members is sent into the field.

Further, even in the case of video capturing performed to record thesituation of an incident or an accident, there are problems in that itis difficult to record video due to the occurrence of unexpectedincidents and the presence of capturing blind spots caused by a limitednumber of capturing members and spatial limitations such as side streetsor indoor areas.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the presentinvention is to provide a field monitoring system using a mobileterminal, which allows a control center to promptly detect the currentsituation of a field via the transmission of video captured in real timein an emergency situation that may occur unexpectedly on members locatedin the field, and which can be compatible with or can replace aconventional fixed capturing device mounted on each of the vehicles ofpublic institutions such as armies, the police, fire departments, andsecurity companies, thus continuously recording the situation of thefield of occurrence of an incident or an accident.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a field monitoringsystem using a mobile terminal, in which mobile terminals, eachemploying a commercialized communication module, a Global PositioningSystem (GPS), and an Inertial Navigation System (INS), are provided torespective members sent into the field of an incident, thus detectingthe locations of individual sent members even in a wide expanse of areain which an incident occurs, and enabling an unexpected situation andcapturing blind spots caused by a limited number of capturing members,and spatial limitations to be captured.

Technical Solution

In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention providesa field monitoring system using a mobile terminal, comprising a mobileterminal for transmitting situation information which includes video andaudio information, generated by capturing video of a field and recordingsound of the field, and location information generated by applyingsignals sensed by an accelerometer and a gyroscope sensor to a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) signal including latitude, longitude and time,and for receiving three-dimensional (3D) image information correspondingto the situation information; and a control server for receiving thesituation information, generating 3D image information about a currentlocation of the mobile terminal by matching the location information ofthe situation information with pre-stored map information orarchitectural drawing information, and then transmitting the 3D imageinformation to the mobile terminal.

Preferably, the mobile terminal comprises a video-audio input unit forgenerating the audio and video information using a capturing module anda recording module; a location information input unit for generating thelocation information, in which the signals sensed by the accelerometerand the gyroscope sensor are applied to the GPS signal includinglatitude, longitude and time, by using a GPS reception module and anInertial Navigation System (INS) module; a storage unit for storing thesituation information; a communication unit for transmitting thesituation information to the control server and receiving the 3D imageinformation from the control server; and a display unit for displayingthe 3D image information corresponding to the situation informationreceived via the communication unit.

Preferably, the control server comprises a location informationprocessing unit for generating the 3D image information required todetect a current location of the mobile terminal by matching thelocation information of the situation information with the pre-storedmap information or architectural drawing information; a storage unit forstoring the 3D image information and the video and audio information ofthe situation information; and a communication unit for receiving thesituation information from the mobile terminal and transmitting the 3Dimage information to the mobile terminal.

Preferably, the mobile terminal and the control server use any one ofcommunication methods, including Wireless Local Area Network LAN (WiFi),High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed Uplink PacketAccess (HSUPA), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA), and Global System for Mobile Telecommunication(GSM)-based communication methods.

Preferably, the mobile terminal further comprises an externalinput/output unit for enabling short-range data exchange in addition towireless communication.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS

According to the present invention, there is a peculiar advantage inthat a control center can promptly detect the situation of a field viathe transmission of video captured in real time in an emergencysituation that may occur unexpectedly.

Further, there is a peculiar advantage in that the locations ofindividual members sent into a field can be detected using mobileterminals, each employing a commercialized communication module, a GPSand an INS, even in a wide expanse of area in which an incident occurs,and unexpected situations or capturing blind spots can be captured.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic construction of a fieldmonitoring system using a mobile terminal according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the detailed construction of the fieldmonitoring system using a mobile terminal according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detailed construction of the video-audioinput unit and the location information input unit of the mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a field monitoring method using a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS OF IMPORTANT PARTS

-   -   100: mobile terminal 110: video-audio input unit    -   111: capturing module 112: recording module    -   120: location information input unit    -   121: GPS reception module    -   122: INS module 130: storage unit    -   140: communication unit 150: display unit    -   160: external input/output unit 200: control server    -   210: communication unit    -   220: location information processing unit    -   230: storage unit

BEST MODE

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Itshould be noted that, in the following description of the presentinvention, detailed descriptions may be omitted if it is determined thatthe detailed descriptions of related well-known functions andconstruction may make the gist of the present invention unclear.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic construction of a fieldmonitoring system using a mobile terminal according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a field monitoring system using a mobile terminalaccording to an embodiment of the present invention includes at leastone mobile terminal 100 for generating and transmitting situationinformation including video and audio information and locationinformation about a field, and a control server 200 for receiving thesituation information from the mobile terminal 100, generatingthree-dimensional (3D) image information about the current location ofthe mobile terminal 100 by matching the location information of thesituation information with pre-stored map information or architecturaldrawing information, and then transmitting the 3D image information tothe mobile terminal 100.

The above-described field monitoring system using a mobile terminal willbe described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the detailed construction of the fieldmonitoring system using a mobile terminal according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detailedconstruction of the video-audio input unit and the location informationinput unit of the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 100 of the field monitoringsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention includes avideo-audio input unit 110 for generating video and audio informationusing a video capturing module and a recording module which are locatedin a field; a location information input unit 120 for generatinglocation information, in which signals sensed by an accelerometer and agyroscope sensor are applied to a Global Positioning System (GPS) signalincluding latitude, longitude and time, by using a GPS reception moduleand an INS module; a storage unit 130 for storing the situationinformation; a communication unit 140 for transmitting the situationinformation to the control server and receiving 3D image informationfrom the control server; and a display unit 150 for displaying the 3Dimage information corresponding to the situation information receivedthrough the communication unit.

As shown in FIG. 3, the video-audio input unit 110 functions to generatevideo and audio information using a capturing module 111 and a recordingmodule 112.

Further, the location information input unit 120 functions to generatethe location information, in which the signals sensed by theaccelerometer and the gyroscope sensor are applied to the GPS signalincluding latitude, longitude and time, by using the GPS receptionmodule 121 and the INS module 122.

The storage unit 130 functions to store the location information and thevideo and audio information.

Further, the communication unit 140 functions to transmit the video andaudio information and the location information stored in the storageunit 140 to the control server 200 and receive situation-dealinginformation corresponding to the transmitted information from thecontrol server 200, and may perform wireless communication with thecontrol server 200 using wireless communication methods such as WirelessLocal Area Network (WiFi), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA),High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Wireless Broadband (WiBro),Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for MobileTelecommunication (GSM)-based communication methods.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the communication methods of themobile terminal 100 are limitedly described as the six wirelesscommunication methods, but the present invention is not limited to thisembodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the mobileterminal 100 can be compatible with any communication method byexchanging communication modules (not shown) to be mounted in thecommunication unit 140 as far as the communication method is a wirelesscommunication method enabling data transmission.

Further, the display unit 150 functions to display the pre-storedinformation, or the situation-dealing information received from thecontrol server 200 through the communication unit 140, in the form ofvideo, audio, pictures, text, etc.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal 100 may further include an externalinput/output unit 160 so as to perform short-distance data exchange withother mobile terminals, computers or previously installed fixedcapturing devices of armies, the police, fire departments, and securitycompanies, in addition to wireless communication.

Further, the control server 200 includes a location informationprocessing unit 220 for receiving the situation information from themobile terminal 100, and generating 3D image information required todetect the current location of the mobile terminal by matching thelocation information of the situation information with pre-stored mapinformation or architectural drawing information; a storage unit 230 forstoring the 3D image information and the video and audio information ofthe situation information; and a communication unit 210 for receivingthe situation information from the mobile terminal 100 and transmittingthe 3D image information to the mobile terminal 100.

The location information processing unit 220 generates the 3D imageinformation enabling the output of the location of the mobile terminal100 by matching the location information of the situation informationreceived through the communication unit 210 with the pre-stored mapinformation or architectural drawing information.

Further, the storage unit 230 stores the 3D location information, andthe video and audio information received from the mobile terminal 100via the communication unit 210.

Next, a field monitoring method performed by the above-described fieldmonitoring system using the mobile terminal will be described withreference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a field monitoring method using a mobileterminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the video-audio input unit 110 generates video andaudio information using the capturing module 111 and the recordingmodule 112 at step S110.

Further, the location information input unit 120 receives a GPS signalincluding latitude, longitude and time via the GPS reception module 121and the INS module 122, generates signals sensed by an accelerometer anda gyroscope sensor, and thereafter generates location information byapplying the sensed signals to GPS coordinate signals at step S120.

Next, the storage unit 130 stores the location information and the videoand audio information at step S130.

The communication unit 140 transmits the location information and thevideo and audio information to the control server 20, and thecommunication unit 210 of the control server 200 receives the locationinformation and the video and audio information at step S140.

The location information processing unit 220 generates 3D imageinformation enabling the output of the location of the mobile terminal100 by matching the location information with pre-stored map informationor architectural drawing information at step S150.

Further, the storage unit 230 stores the 3D image information and thevideo and audio information received from the mobile terminal 100 viathe communication unit 210 at step S160.

Using the above method, the control server 200 can promptly determine acurrent situation and can consider plans and instructions for dealingwith the situation by using a display device (not shown), and transmitsituation information corresponding to the determined situation via thecommunication unit 210, thus enabling the mobile terminal 100 to displaythe received situation information in the form of video, audio, picturesand text.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendisclosed for the purpose of illustrating the technical spirit of thepresent invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that thepresent invention is not limited to the construction and operationillustrated and described in the present specification and variousmodifications and changes are possible, without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention. Therefore, all suitable modifications andchanges and equivalents thereof should be interpreted as being includedin the scope of the present invention.

1. A field monitoring system using a mobile terminal, comprising: amobile terminal (100) for transmitting situation information whichincludes video and audio information, generated by capturing video of afield and recording sound of the field, and location informationgenerated by applying signals sensed by an accelerometer and a gyroscopesensor to a Global Positioning System (GPS) signal including latitude,longitude and time, and for receiving three-dimensional (3D) imageinformation corresponding to the situation information; and a controlserver (200) for receiving the situation information, generating 3Dimage information about a current location of the mobile terminal (100)by matching the location information of the situation information withpre-stored map information or architectural drawing information, andthen transmitting the 3D image information to the mobile terminal (100).2. The field monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the mobileterminal (100) comprises: a video-audio input unit (110) for generatingthe audio and video information using a video capturing module (111) anda recording module (112) located in the field; a location informationinput unit (120) for generating the location information, in which thesignals sensed by the accelerometer and the gyroscope sensor are appliedto the GPS signal including latitude, longitude and time, by using a GPSreception module and an Inertial Navigation System (INS) module; astorage unit (130) for storing the situation information which includesthe video and audio information and the location information; acommunication unit (140) for transmitting the situation information tothe control server (200) and receiving the 3D image information from thecontrol server; and a display unit (150) for displaying the 3D imageinformation.
 3. The field monitoring system according to claim 1,wherein the control server (200) comprises: a location informationprocessing unit (220) for generating the 3D image information requiredto detect a current location of the mobile terminal (100) by matchingthe location information of the situation information received from themobile terminal (100) with the pre-stored map information orarchitectural drawing information; a storage unit (230) for storing the3D image information and the video and audio information of thesituation information; and a communication unit (210) for receiving thesituation information from the mobile terminal (100) and transmittingthe 3D image information to the mobile terminal (100).
 4. The fieldmonitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal(100) uses any one of communication methods, including Wireless LocalArea Network LAN (WiFi), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), HighSpeed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Wireless Broadband (WiBro), CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA), and Global System for MobileTelecommunication (GSM)-based communication methods.
 5. The fieldmonitoring system according to claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal(100) further comprises an external input/output unit (160) for enablingshort-range data exchange in addition to wireless communication.